Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility at Blue Bottle Coffee

Sustainable coffee production has been a Blue Bottle value since we were selling roasted beans out of the trunk of a Peugeot station wagon. But even we didn't think much of it when we began sharing our coffee grounds with Frog Hollow Farm, an old Ferry Building neighbor.

"Back then, we composted all of our own coffee grounds, like we compost all of our cafe waste, and at first they were only taking some of our surplus," says Gilman Brewery Leader Elias Perez. Once we got them larger compost bins, however, Frog Hollow (which has the distinction of being the first cafe where Blue Bottle coffees were served) was able to take even more. 

"There was never a point where they said, 'That's too much,'"